1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner control system using a telephone network and a method for operating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air conditioner control system, and a method for operating the same, wherein an electronic device at a remote location is connected to a plurality of air conditioners through the telephone network to input control commands to the air conditioners. A control program is run in the remote electronic device to register profile information for the air conditioners whereby control commands can be simply and conveniently input and transferred.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional air conditioner control system using a telephone network will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
Air conditioners generally include outdoor units and indoor units. In such an air conditioner, a coolant undergoes a thermal cycle of compression, condensation, expansion and evaporation while circulating through the outdoor and indoor units. In this manner, a cooling or heating operation is performed to condition the indoor air.
Home network systems have recently been developed in which a plurality of home appliances are connected to an internal network provided in a home or building. A server, in particular a home server, is connected to the internal network for controlling the home appliances in an integrated manner. The home server may be a home appliance which has a storage capability and sufficient data processing capacity to function as the server. Alternatively, a home server-dedicated device may be provided to centrally control the home appliances connected to the internal network.
Such a home network system may further provide a gateway function for connecting the home server to an external network, such as the Internet. This gateway function enables a remote user to accesses the home server in the home or building over the Internet to monitor the operating statutes of the plurality of home appliances controlled by the home server and to input control commands to each of the home appliances.
For such a home network system, a local area network (LAN) line must be provided in the home or building to enable smooth transmission and reception of signals among or between the home appliances connected to the internal network. A high speed Internet network provided on a regional or country wide basis is also necessary to facilitate the remote control of the home network system. However, such a home network system cannot be implemented in a region, country, or building, in which access to the Internet is limited.
To address the above problem, an air conditioner control system using an existing public switched telephone network (PSTN) has been developed which allows a remote user to remotely input control commands to a plurality of air conditioners installed in a home or building and to monitor the operating states of the air conditioners. A conventional air conditioner control system using the public switched telephone network is shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, an air conditioner 10 is connected to a telephone terminal in a home or building so that it can b be connected with a calling party (remote user) through the public switched telephone network TN for transmitting and receiving signals to/from the calling party over the telephone network. The remote user can call the building or home where the air conditioner 10 is installed to establish a call connection. The remote user can then input a control command for the air conditioner 10 by manipulating buttons on a telephone 20. The control command is transferred to the air conditioner 10 over the public switched telephone network TN to control it
However, such a conventional air conditioner control system using the public switched telephone network TN has a disadvantage in that only a simple operation of the air conditioner 10, such as an ON/OFF operation, can be controlled due to a limited number of buttons provided on the telephone 20. This limits the remotely controllable functions of the air conditioners, resulting in inconvenience to the user and inefficient and limited utilization of remote control capabilities.